Epi-hike

[Gob]

Members of US Congress are in an unusual position as they demand an explanation for Mylan's 400 per cent price hike for the EpiPen and focus attention squarely on its CEO: Heather Bresch.

If politicians follow the usual script, Bresch could get called up to Capitol Hill next month to explain her company's justification for raising the price on the life-saving allergy shot. But that could be awkward, since she's the daughter of Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

While Bresch's family ties may mute the ire of some politicians, others are already asking the company about taxpayers having to foot the bill for these price increases - particularly after Bresch and the company successfully pushed legislation to encourage use of the EpiPen in schools nationwide.

Mylan is the latest drugmaker to provoke congressional ire for steep price hikes. Martin Shkreli and executives from the company he used to lead, Turing Pharmaceuticals, and executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International were called before congressional committees earlier this year to explain why they bought the rights to older drugs that lacked competition and raised the prices.

The Mylan controversy fits a similar pattern. Mylan has increased the price of its EpiPen from about $US57 a shot when it took over sales of the product in 2007 to more than $US600 for two auto-injectors. But the company's EpiPen is a more mainstream drug used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions from bee stings, food allergies or other triggers, which could give the issue a larger constituency.

Mylan declined to comment when asked to explain the price hike or Bresch's role in promoting legislation. Manchin's office also didn't respond to requests for comment.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I heard that there was another company that had a similar product but that it didn't get fda approval even after it was shown to be very similar in composition.
Competition would be nice if the new product has no (or similar) adverse reactions as the one we have now.

[Crackpot]

Another reason why the patent system as it currently functions is jaked up and is in serious need of reform.

[MajGenl.Meade]

My daughter remarked a couple of weeks ago that her epi-pen is long-expired but she cannot afford the replacement

[Guinevere]

That's not good Meade.

My older nephew uses one, I will have to ask my sister about her costs. I assumed they were covered by insurance, but possibly not or the coverage is less.

[rubato]

The number of people paying with insurance is in part responsible for the price hikes. When it is your own money you scream louder when prices are jacked up and are more likely to do something about it.

In a single-payer system the state negotiates prices directly and they stay much lower because the representative of the state HI system are experts in drug costs and pricing and put the screws to the exploitive companies.

Our mixed system of capitalist businesses and HI systems is the worst of all possible worlds where the end user who cannot possibly be expert in all these things is screwed.



yrs,
rubato

[Big RR]

The number of people paying with insurance is in part responsible for the price hikes. When it is your own money you scream louder when prices are jacked up and are more likely to do something about it.

Certainly, but so what? What can someone do other than refuse to buy it. And with the insurer's preferred formularies and tiered copays, the insured consumer is often paying a good part of the price hikes, yet can do little about it.

Indeed, in the closest we have to a single payer system, the government does not even flex its muscle to negotiate with companies for the price of drugs.

[rubato]

The number of people paying with insurance is in part responsible for the price hikes. When it is your own money you scream louder when prices are jacked up and are more likely to do something about it.

Certainly, but so what? What can someone do other than refuse to buy it. And with the insurer's preferred formularies and tiered copays, the insured consumer is often paying a good part of the price hikes, yet can do little about it.

Indeed, in the closest we have to a single payer system, the government does not even flex its muscle to negotiate with companies for the price of drugs.

The answer to your question is obvious.


If this is a problem we have created and amplified by the system of paying for HC we have chosen then we can choose a different one.

It is not just epi-pens it is the pricing for ever-more drugs that are being jacked up to extortionate levels, like insulin.

yrs,
rubato

[Sue U]

Mylan is the latest drugmaker to provoke congressional ire for steep price hikes. Martin Shkreli and executives from the company he used to lead, Turing Pharmaceuticals, and executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International were called before congressional committees earlier this year to explain why they bought the rights to older drugs that lacked competition and raised the prices.

Why does Congress hate free enterprise?

Honestly,this is the most fundamental rule of capitalism: buy low, sell high. Why does everyone pretend to be so shocked? And really, what is Congress going to do about it? Absolutely nothing. They'll hold "hearings" and angrily denounce price gouging for the teevee cameras, and that will be the end of it.

If anyone were actually serious about this issue, they'd be using these examples as Exhibit A in demonstrating why capitalism is simply not an appropriate system for delivering healthcare. But you're not allowed to say "socialism" in the ironically-named House of Representatives.

Gah.

[RayThom]

Well, if the price hike has this guy's endorsement who can argue?

[Big RR]

rubato--

If this is a problem we have created and amplified by the system of paying for HC we have chosen then we can choose a different one

But we won't; we should have had a single payer option with Obamacare, but we don't--and even if we did, it likely would be prohibited from negotiating prices with drug companies like every other western country does (and ones that have decent access to all drugs and robust economies, BTW). people pay it because they have no choice, not because of insurance. Saying, forget it, Id rather die is not an option.

Sue--and therein lies the weakness of Obamacare; it's window dressing, not a solution. Oh, it helps a bit, but major changes are needed to achieve a workable system.

[Long Run]

If anyone were actually serious about this issue, they'd be using these examples as Exhibit A in demonstrating why capitalism is simply not an appropriate system for delivering healthcare.

Except this isn't capitalism since the consumer isn't buying the product, and the competition is either prohibited by regulation or severely limited. Instead, this an example of our hybrid mess allowing parasites to practice arbitrage to their sole benefit with no benefit at all to the broader community. An actual free enterprise system has and can work in medicine, as can the nonprofit model, as can the single payer. Rubato is onto something when he notes that we seem to have adopted the worst elements from each of those to put together our conglomeration.

[oldr_n_wsr]

we seem to have adopted the worst elements from each of those to put together our conglomeration.

And here I thought ObamaCare was working so well.

[rubato]

rubato--

If this is a problem we have created and amplified by the system of paying for HC we have chosen then we can choose a different one

But we won't; we should have had a single payer option with Obamacare, but we don't--and even if we did, it likely would be prohibited from negotiating prices with drug companies like every other western country does (and ones that have decent access to all drugs and robust economies, BTW). people pay it because they have no choice, not because of insurance. Saying, forget it, Id rather die is not an option.

Sue--and therein lies the weakness of Obamacare; it's window dressing, not a solution. Oh, it helps a bit, but major changes are needed to achieve a workable system.

But we won't;

i don't know the future but I do know that currently a large percentage of Republican voters want single-payer.* So your objection is null. Politicially there is good reason to be optimistic about national health. And as the GOP dumpsterfire burns out of control their lackeys will have less and less to say about it.

we should have had a single payer option with Obamacare, but we don't-

We should have had single-payer back in the 1970s when I first looked at our HC system and saw that is was fundamentally flawed. Obamacare was the best system which it was possible to get passed through congress (with no Republican votes) and it is a viable transition to single-payer. it is easier to say where we would like to be but much harder to come up with a route for getting there.

it likely would be prohibited from negotiating prices with drug companies

Probably not. Only BushCo was stupid enough to block price competition for drugs and many systems like Kaiser-Permanente negotiate prices very agressively and use approved formularies to help.

Sue--and therein lies the weakness of Obamacare; it's window dressing, not a solution.

You really have to ignore all of the relevant data to call it 'window dressing':



Thousands of people will not die or be disabled by treatable diseases because of Obamacare.

The strength of Obamacare is that it improves HC more than anything we have done in more than 40 years, and it provides a mechanism to transition to single-payer.

it is not the system I have advocated for for the past nearly 40 years but it is a huge improvement and makes single-payer possible.

yrs,
rubato

* As of the early 1980s a majority of AMA members, a deeply conservative physicians group, supported single payer. But curiously, they believed that their own opinions were in the minority.

[rubato]

we seem to have adopted the worst elements from each of those to put together our conglomeration.

And here I thought ObamaCare was working so well.

Compared to what was before, it is.


We could go back to the Republican "Let them die" system if you like.

yrs,
rubato

[kmccune]

My latest bout with the healthcare system ,sure opened my eyes to things that could be done better,from hospitals trying to pay for new equipment ,to the countless referrals to chums and "" colleagues "(apparently they put you in those tiny little rooms for 15 minutes so they can breeze through and say you had your Dr visit.If it can proved that someone has died because of the price gouging on the Epipens,then it should be treated as criminal.
I cant even afford the copays now . If it wasnt for my hypertension ,I would give serious consideration to going Doctorless,
( homeopathic does work to a certain extent)

[Guinevere]

we seem to have adopted the worst elements from each of those to put together our conglomeration.

And here I thought ObamaCare was working so well.

My mother is alive and not bankrupt because of the ACA provisions lifting lifetime limits and eliminating the pre-existing condition bar. So yes, it's working quite well, thank you very much.

[RayThom]

... If it wasnt for my hypertension ,I would give serious consideration to going Doctorless... ( homeopathic does work to a certain extent)

Have you tried DASH? It may not be a cure-all but it might get your numbers down without causing you financial embarrassment. And don't discount the power of mindfulness which may help you, also. Good luck.
DASH:
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/47/2/296.full
MINDFULNESS:
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/m ... definition

[Econoline]

Good, thorough essay on the background of and issues surrounding the EpiPen here:

http://www.stonekettle.com/2016/08/the- ... rt-iv.html

[rubato]

Members of US Congress are in an unusual position as they demand an explanation for Mylan's 400 per cent price hike for the EpiPen and focus attention squarely on its CEO: Heather Bresch.

If politicians follow the usual script, Bresch could get called up to Capitol Hill next month to explain her company's justification for raising the price on the life-saving allergy shot. But that could be awkward, since she's the daughter of Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

While Bresch's family ties may mute the ire of some politicians, others are already asking the company about taxpayers having to foot the bill for these price increases - particularly after Bresch and the company successfully pushed legislation to encourage use of the EpiPen in schools nationwide.

Mylan is the latest drugmaker to provoke congressional ire for steep price hikes. Martin Shkreli and executives from the company he used to lead, Turing Pharmaceuticals, and executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International were called before congressional committees earlier this year to explain why they bought the rights to older drugs that lacked competition and raised the prices.

The Mylan controversy fits a similar pattern. Mylan has increased the price of its EpiPen from about $US57 a shot when it took over sales of the product in 2007 to more than $US600 for two auto-injectors. But the company's EpiPen is a more mainstream drug used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions from bee stings, food allergies or other triggers, which could give the issue a larger constituency.

Mylan declined to comment when asked to explain the price hike or Bresch's role in promoting legislation. Manchin's office also didn't respond to requests for comment.

What this illustrates very sharply is that Capitalism is amoral. We can only fashion a just society where human life and autonomy are respected when Capitalism is sharply limited.

Selfishness is a useful and very reliable motivation to base many aspect of society on, sturdy, but unfettered it leads to murder and slavery.

yrs,
rubato